State

Alex Kirk had a good week. The University of New Mexico Lobos, not quite as good.
Kirk the standout, 7-foot center for the Lobos and the former Los Alamos Hilltopper star, picked up a pair of honors this week. He was named to the Charleston Classic All-Tournament team for his performance in the three-game tournament, and also picked up a Mountain West Player of the Week nod, the fourth weekly honor of his career.
UNM finished third in the Charleston Classic, going 2-1 in three contests. UNM topped the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Davidson, but in between those two wins was a lopsided loss to UMass.
The loss to the Minutemen was definitely not Kirk’s fault, as he dropped in a career-high 32 points.
That loss, along with shaky defensive efforts against both Alabama-Birmingham and Charleston Southern the weekend earlier, knocked the Lobos out of the top 25 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today coaches polls this week. The Lobos (4-1) were in the top 20 in both polls a week earlier.
In the Charleston Classic, Kirk had three consecutive double-doubles and, in doing so, became the second-leading rebounder in tournament history with his 36 total boards.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's ski season is starting early because of the big snowstorm last weekend.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that ski areas planning to open Thanksgiving Day include Ski Santa Fe, Taos Ski Valley and Ski Apache near Ruidoso.
Ski Santa Fe has 15 inches of new snow, adding up to a 27-inch base.
Taos Ski Valley marketing director Adriana Blake says the resort got 26 inches of snow since Friday and she expects a 35-inch base.
Ski Apache reports 10 inches of new snow and has its snow-making machines going.
While the Journal report does not specificcally mention Pajarito Ski Hill just above Los Alamos, the operation's website indicates the hill received about 12 inches of snow during the storm. A Monday morning update indicates there is still insufficient snow to begin ski season.
Long range weather forecasts for the region through February are still pointing toward above average temperatures and lower than normal precipitation.
Other areas either already open or opening this week include Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort near Vadito and Red River Ski Area.
Other ski hills plan to open in December.

If you look at Alex Kirk’s stat line and consider the University of New Mexico set a school record in blocked shots, you would think the 81-65 score Friday in the Charleston Classic leaned heavily toward Lobos.
It didn’t.
Despite a career-high 32 points from UNM’s 7-footer and despite 12 blocked shots by UNM, the Lobos were dumped into the consolation bracket thanks to a 16-point non-conference loss to UMass. The Lobos play Davidson at 10 a.m. Sunday. Davidson fell to Clemson 85-54 Friday night.
“Alex played one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play,” said Lobo head coach Craig Neal. “He went into beast mode and they couldn’t stop him.”
The Lobos needed Kirk to play like a beast on Friday in Charleston. Not too many other Lobos came with their A games probably, in part, a product of their tiring double-overtime win over Alabama-Birmingham Thursday.
“I’m not making an excuse for our guys,” said Neal of the possibility his Lobos were a little leg weary. “I thought I had them prepared for the press, but we didn’t handle it very well.”

It was a rough night for the University of New Mexico Lobo women’s basketball team on all fronts Tuesday.
Not only did the Lobos struggle from the field in the first half against the Texas Longhorns, 6-foot-2 center Ebony Walker was injured in the second half. Walker, a starter for the Lobos, was diagnosed with an Achilles tendon injury and could be sidelined for the balance of the season.
UNM fell to Texas 67-52 at The Pit.
Antiesah Brown had 14 points for the Lobos, but had to sit out a good portion of the game with foul trouble.
UNM managed to connect on just 17.9 percent of its chances from the floor in the first 20 minutes, falling behind 30-18 at the break.
“I really can’t tell you what’s going on with our slow starts,” Brown said. “We’re looking to catch the feel of the game instead of taking over the game.”
For the Longhorns (3-0), Nneka Enemkpali had 19 points in the paint to lead all scorers.
It will be another tough contest for the Lobos (1-2) Saturday when they take on No. 16 Colorado in The Pit.
Lobo men to play in Puerto Rico in 2014

The Pojoaque Valley Elkettes made it five in a row at the state Class 3A volleyball tournament Saturday.
Pojoaque Valley waltzed through the Class 3A field last week, dropping just two sets in direct elimination play to earn the 2013 state championship. Its title run was capped with a 3-1 victory over the Ruidoso Warriors.
The Elkettes (20-4) have owned the 3A postseason since 2009 and haven’t been pushed even as far as a fifth set in the championship match since that time.
This season, the Elkettes won their third title under a different head coach. Eric Zamora steered the team to the championship in 2013, while Joey Trujillo did likewise in 2012 and Brian Ainsworth in 2011 — Ainsworth left Pojoaque Valley to coach at Cleveland, which finished as the 5A runner-up.
Goddard upsets Piedra Vista for Class 4A championship

Aggie men win late-night hoops contest at Hawaii
KC Ross-Miller hit 10 straight foul shots for the New Mexico State University Aggie men’s basketball team in the final 37 seconds as the Aggies won in Honolulu.
Ross-Miller’s free throws helped lift the Aggies to a 95-88 victory over Hawaii.
Meanwhile, Aggie star Daniel Mullings finished with a team-high 21 points and Remi Barry had a career-high 18 points in the finale of the Rainbow Classic, which took place at 3 a.m. Mountain Time Tuesday.
The win improved the Aggies to 2-1 on the young season. Ironically, it was foul shooting that helped do the Aggies in last week in their loss to Western Michigan, where they managed just a 25-for-40 performance.
NMSU shot a blistering 74 percent from the field in the second half Tuesday but struggled to put Hawaii away until late.
NMSU hosts its cross-border rival UTEP Friday night.
Brown is MW’s Player of the Week for the Lobos

Albuquerque Isotopes manager Lorenzo Bundy has been promoted to the big club.
Bundy, the manager of the Isotopes for the past three seasons, was named to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ coaching staff. He will coach third base in the 2014 season for Los Angeles.
With Bundy at the helm, the Isotopes have gone 225-206 and won the PCL American League Southern Division in 2012.
During that 2012 season, Bundy was named the PCL Manager of the Year. The Isotopes won a record 48 home games and tied a franchise record with 80 victories.
Bundy will take over for Tim Wallach as third base coach for the Dodgers.
Wallach was also the Isotopes manager before being promoted and Bundy took over for him following the 2010 season.

Alex Kirk was one of four University of New Mexico Lobo men’s basketball players in double-figures as the Lobos crushed Alabama A & M in their season opener.
Kirk, the former Los Alamos Hilltopper standout, had a double-double for the Lobos as they thumped Alabama A & M 88-52 at The Pit. Kirk finished with 16 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds (5 offensive, 7 defensive) in the rout.
The game was the first official game – the Lobos won both their exhibition games last week – under new head coach Craig ‘Noodles’ Neal, who was named the Lobos coach shortly after the departure of Steve Alford in March.
“Yeah, I was nervous again,” Neal said after the game. “This one counted. But really proud of our guys. That’s the way I envisioned our guys playing. I thought our veteran guys really led our younger guys in the sense that that’s probably one of the best starts we’ve had here in a long time. The veterans came out, imposed their will on them and I thought they really, really did everything I asked them to do from a defensive standpoint.”
UNM (1-0) led 45-26 at the half and didn’t let up much in the second half to win the contest going away. UNM never trailed in the ballgame.